Whenever I return to New York after traveling overseas, the city becomes my home (again), and invariably also my comfort food — the tastes, smells and sounds of a larger world reminding me that it’s going to be O.K. if I don’t get back out there and travel again right away. There are plenty of ways to experience the world right here in the Big Apple!

For urban enthusiasts and armchair explorers alike, The World in a City is a look at today’s polyglot and polychrome, cosmopolitan and culturally rich New York and the lessons it holds for the rest of the US as immigration changes the face of the nation. With three out of five of the city’s residents either foreign-born or second-generation Americans, New York has become more than ever a collection of villages–virtually self-reliant hamlets, each exquisitely textured by its particular ethnicities, history, and politics. For the price of a subway ride, you can visit Ghana, the Philippines, Ecuador, Uzbekistan, and Bangladesh.

This Thanksgiving, I’m more than grateful to be able to call this microcosm of the world my home. And I’m thankful for books like this, which encourage me to keep on exploring, right here in my own backyard.